New on The McTexLaw Business Owner's Resource Center:

Are You Covered?

Let's say your company is sued. How do you determine if your insurance policy covers the lawsuit, picks up the tab for paying the lawyer to represent you in the case, and pays any judgment? Do you just pass the lawsuit along to your insurance agent and take whatever they say? If so, you could be missing out on some coverage you've paid for. It is wise to let your business lawyer review the lawsuit and your insurance policy, and if necessary, fight with the insurance company for coverage. In this case the Texas Supremes reviewed the rules for determining coverage. Here's the context: Company X's employee got kicked in the face by Company Z's employee, so Company X's injured employee sued......Company Z. Did you see that one coming? Click the headline to read whether the insurance company had to defend this case, and how that decision was made. King v. Dallas Fire Insurance Co., Case No. 00-1152, Texas Supreme Court, decided August 29, 2002.

Are Your Employees At-Will or Hired for a Certain Time?

This is a short but sweet victory of common sense favoring business owners. The employee claimed a document setting out future anticipated pay raises meant she was hired for that length of time. The trial court wisely said no, but the court of appeals had a lapse of logic and said yes, so the Texas Supremes stepped in to correct the error. The opinion is short, and so is this article. Midland Judicial District Community Supervision and Corrections Dept. v. Jones, Case No. 01-0557, Texas Supreme Court, decided June 27, 2002.

New on The McTexLaw Commercial Real Estate Resource Center:

The Effect of 9-11 on Commercial Real Estate

Simple title, not so easy article. Commercial leases have been profoundly changed by the events of 9-11, perhaps more than any other area of law. We have now had a full year to bring those changes into better focus, and understand which effects are permanent. Click the headline to read what this year's worth of days has taught us about the post 9-11 legal issues we will all be dealing with in commercial leases.

If You're In Construction, You're Now in the Insurance Business Too

The Texas Supremes just issued a very important, controversial decision, and that's an understatement. If you build something, you give the buyer a "warranty of habitability" whether you want to or not, because this warranty cannot be waived by the buyer. The case is about cracking foundations (a condition few if any builders have any control over anyway), but this article is a must-read for every contractor because it may apply to any construction, and could even mean you, as the builder, are insuring the continued condition of what you build. For how long, you ask? Well, we don't know; it could be forever because the Texas Supremes didn't limit it, and you know the plaintiff's lawyers think that means forever. Centex Homes v. Buecher, Case No. 00-0479, Texas Supreme Court, decided August 29, 2002.

WHERE WERE YOU ON THAT SEPTEMBER MORNING..........

My wife is a travel manager, supervising the travel office of a D/FW company. On that fateful day I was working at my home office when she called me to tell me to turn on CNN because two planes had just hit the World Trade Center. (I am writing this article sitting in the exact same chair, in the exact same room, working on the exact same computer, as I was that morning.) I thought this was her way of giving me grief for working at home, suspecting (and rightly so) that I had Jay Novacek on the TV in the background, teaching me how to better hunt big game. I told her I could believe one plane hitting a tower due to some sort of bizarre mechanical failure, but two planes was just too crazy to believe. She was unrelenting, so I switched over to CNN while she waited on the phone.

I couldn't believe my own eyes. The second plane had hit just a few minutes earlier and they were replaying the impact, over and over. Later in the day the news stations would find and air the amateur video of the first hit as well.

For the entire rest of the day I watched the TV. Confusion reigned supreme. Where was the President? Who did this? Was it over, or was there more to come? Had somebody declared war on us? Would Dallas be hit? I think at one point reports had 6 planes missing and heading for targets. Only later did the number drop to four. And although I had the presence of mind to put in a videotape and record the entire day as it unfolded, I didn't watch any of that tape again until the evening of 9-11-02.

Not much happens to make us think of even the possibility of our country ceasing to exist, but 9-11 had me thinking that "what if." Think of the chaos that would reign. Titles to real estate and any improvements would be in jeopardy, we would have no organized system of justice, no way to enforce contracts, no way to extend and collect loans. There would be no statutes or cases to guide us. People would only find justice by enforcing it for themselves. That system obviously wouldn't work because everybody has a different idea of justice. Even now, those different viewpoints create new plaintiffs and defendants daily

9-11 means different things to all of us. For me, I am grateful for a coordinated, cohesive, system of justice, and I am glad to have a part in it. Yes, it is flawed, and the flaws can drive us all batty at times, but overall, we've got it good. I enjoy being a lawyer. I am eternally grateful to live in a country that has this sophisticated system of justice. And that is why, on this September morning, and the many mornings before, I get out of bed and go to the office, as I will continue to do.

THE LAWSUIT ABUSE TAX + Bonus: How to Turn a Pop-Tart into a Blow Torch

The U. S. Chamber of Commerce wants you to know that, for every product you purchase, you pay a "lawsuit abuse tax," which is money you pay for the seller to fight frivolous lawsuits filed against it.

Example: Brenda Hurff of Washington Township, NJ, dropped a Pop-Tart in the toaster and left the house to take her children to school. By the time she came back, she saw smoke, fire, and water, the first two courtesy of her ignoring Kellogg's advice on the box not to toast Pop-Tarts unattended, the latter courtesy of the very attentive local fire department. Could this possibly have been her fault? Not according to Brenda. Instead, she sued Kelloggs and Black & Decker, maker of the toaster, for $100,000. Her lawyer, in an interview, said Brenda never anticipated the Pop-Tart becoming a "blow-torch." Even better, the local fire chief said he wasn't surprised it could cause a fire, adding "Go get a Pop-Tart and try it yourself, just do it safely." My question is, how do you safely turn a Pop-Tart into a blow torch? If someone did, and was injured, would they have a case against the well-meaning fire chief?

My guess is that, in Texas, Brenda wouldn't get far because of her "contributory negligence" in leaving the toaster unattended. But in any event, this website is all part of the Chamber's way of championing tort reform to limit lawsuits against businesses. They've even figured the amount of this "tax" on many common products. Visit their very interesting website at www.lawsuitabusetax.com and be sure to check out their "links" page for further stories of the bizarre.

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